Rhubarb Pie (Miniature)

Origin: British

These pies were amazingly sour and sweet surrounded by a great buttery flaky crust.

By making them into small individual pies there is nothing stopping you from having more than a few.

Makes about: 12 mini pies

Time: 3 hours

Difficulty: 2 Out of 5 (hardest part is the time it takes to make the pie shells)

Prep:

Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease your cupcake tin very well, make sure you get the creases and every part of that cupcake tin so your pies come out easily.

Ingredients: Crust

1 cup unsalted butter - cubed and cold

2 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 cup water - plus a few tablespoons if needed - super cold

Pie Filling

350 g Rhubarb - Chopped

400 g sugar

5 tablespoons flour

The Pie Itself

Instructions: Crust

- Step 1 - Cut the Butter

Cube your 1 cup of butter ( 2 sticks). Should be about an inch by inch size.

I cut the butter in half and then cut the halves in half and then cubed that.

After cubing the butter place it in the freezer till needed.

- Step 2 - Pulse the Dry Ingredients

In a food processor mix the 2 1/2 cups of flour, 1 teaspoon of salt, and 1 teaspoon of sugar.

I only have a small food processor, so I had to split the recipe in half to make the pie crust, but it works just fine. I will explain the recipe as if I were using a large processor though.

- Step 3 - Pulse in the Butter

Add half your butter and pulse it for 3 or 4 seconds . Then put the rest of you butter into the food processor and pulse.

Mix the butter till it is combined, about 7 seconds; don't over mix. It should not be chunky , but if you still have butter chucks in it they should be no bigger than a tip of a small paint brush.

- Step 4 - Add in the Water

Add about a 1/4 cup of really cold water into the food processor and pulse it till mixed - 5-7 seconds. The texture should be kind of like wet sand and stick together slightly when pinched.

Be careful, you don't want it wet, you just want it damp.

If your dough still seems really dry, add a tablespoon of water at a time till you get the correct texture.

- Step 5 - Form the Dough

Toss a little flour onto the a clean counter and place your dough crumble onto the counter with it. Press it with your palm till it starts sticking together and then start folding it together till it starts to form a dough.

Do not over work the dough because it will become tough while baking. Just do it till it becomes a sold.

- Step 6 - Make Dough Patties

Because you are making small pies, make patties of about 5 tablespoons of dough. Do not make them flat, but make them a patty, so they can cool faster in the fridge.

- Step 7 - Refrigerate

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place them in the fridge. You don't want the dough touching each other, so wrap them individually or you can wrap them how I did it below.

Place the dough patties in the fridge till they are needed. Do not stack them on top of each other in the fridge because they will not cool quickly.

Have them in the fridge for about 30 minutes, but you can keep them in the fridge for at least a day.

Pie Filling

- Step 8 - Chop the Rhubarb

Chop up the rhubarb into 1/2 inch pieces and put it in a medium sized bowl.

- Step 9 - Mix the Dry Ingredients

In another medium bowl add 400 g sugar and 5 tablespoons flour. Mix together and set off to the side.

After filling the pies, you may have some of this left over. Do NOT put more in the pie shells - it would make it too sweet.

Yes, the purpose is to have two separate bowls, one with rhubarb and the other with the flour and sugar mixture.

The Pie Itself

- Step 10 - Roll Your Dough

Put a small amount of flour on your counter top and take one patty of dough out of the fridge (keep the rest in the fridge) and roll it out thin.

Keep flipping the dough over so it does not stick to the counter and roll it out till it is about 6-8 inches in diameter.

- Step 11 - Make the Miniature Pie Shell

Place the dough into a cupcake tin and slowly press it down till it reaches the bottom and of the tin. Make sure it does not rip, so do it slowly.

At this time you can cut off your excess dough if you like, I just didn't do it at this time.

- Step 12 - Add the Sugar and Flour Mixture

Put 1 teaspoon of the flour and sugar mixture at the bottom of the pie shell.

- Step 13 - Add the Rhubarb

Fill the pie shell with the rhubarb just till the top.

- Step 14 - More Sugar and Flour Mixture

Add another teaspoon of the flour and sugar mixture on top of the rhubarb.

- Step 15 - Topper

Roll out another patty of dough just like you did for the pie shell, but this time you are going to cut it into strips, like I did below, to create the tops of the pies.

Or you can just place the flat dough topper on top of the pie shell and press it closed. If you do this, cut little slits on the top.

You will alternate which strips of dough are on the bottom and top just like I did below.

Cut the excess dough off the pie and seal the edges by pressing the dough together.

- Step 16 - Bake

Place your miniature pies on the middle rack and bake for 35-40 minutes. You want the tops of your pies to be golden brown.

- Step 17 - Cool and Enjoy Each Bite

Let your pies cool completely in the cupcake tin. When you go to take them out spin them to make sure they are loose and then pull them out.

If you greased it correctly they should come out easily with no fuss.

You should be able to tap the bottom of your pie shell and have it sound solid. It will be soft, but you don't want a soggy bottom.

I used my own pie crust. To keep the sour I just added a little sugar and to keep the juices from getting too out of control I added a little starch,